Usman Khawaja forced to remove ‘banned’ dove logo from bat during day 3 of Wellington Test

Australia opener Usman Khawaja has reignited the controversy around the ‘banned’ dove logo, as the officials forced him to remove one from his bat during day three of the ongoing Wellington Test against New Zealand. The incident happened during the 19th over, in Australia's second innings, when Khawaja cracked his bat and asked for a replacement.

Just when Matthew Renshaw, the substitute, ran in with a few options, Khawaja tried them all before locking in on the one. The officials immediately jumped onto the scene, asking Khawaja to remove the controversial dove logo from his bat, which he also tried using on his apparel (shoes here) during the Pakistan series at home late last year.

Against Pakistan at home in 2023, Khawaja donned a human rights sticker of a dove holding an olive branch from it to raise awareness for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Earlier, Khawaja wore a black armband during the series opener against Pakistan in Perth, for which the International Cricket Council (ICC) charged him for breaching the equipment regulations. Khawaja later clarified that it was due to a “personal bereavement”.

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For the second Test at the MCG, the apex body rejected Khawaja’s plea of donning the dove logo on his bat.

The left-handed batter later accused the ICC of showing double standards through a social media post.

He wrote, “Merry Christmas everybody. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. CYA at Boxing Day!” Khawaja wrote while using the hashtags “inconsistent” and “double standards”.

However, the veteran batter received support from Aussie captain Pat Cummins and Cricket Australia Chief Executive Nick Hockley.

“The symbol of the dove is a universally recognised symbol of peace," Hockley saidin December.

“That being said, the ICC have got their rules and think they explained their rationale really clearly and we respect that. What we’ve been really clear about is that we support Uzzie and all our players really to share what they believe over their own channels,” he added.

New Zealand stay afloat in the chase

Meanwhile, New Zealand needs another 258 runs to win the first Test in Wellington after being reduced to 111 for three in the chase of 369. While the top three is back in the hut, with Nathan Lyon picking three wickets, New Zealand batsmen Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell are batting on 56 and 12, respectively.